


Ditto, by the way

by roadbeneathus (orphan_account)



Category: teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, M/M, Miscommunication, Stilinski Twins, stilinski!twins au, very mild angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-30 14:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1019957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/roadbeneathus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek has something he'd like to ask Stiles. Stiles is confused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ditto, by the way

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Lo mismo digo, por cierto](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1429732) by [argenya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/argenya/pseuds/argenya)



“Derek. You know, I’d really like to be able someday to say that it’s good to see you, but the invasion of my personal space _without permission_ kinda puts a damper on my enthusiasm to have you here,” Stiles snarked in a dry tone as he walked through the bedroom door. “Anyway, just in case you’ve bumped into a hard object recently and were confused, I’m Stiles. Stuart’s room is across the hall, which you should know by now, shouldn’t you? You should have texted him to let him know you were looking to meet up. He went off somewhere with Danny after practice.”

Derek, feeling a (tiny) bit hurt by the implication that Stiles wasn’t happy to see him and also confused about why Stiles thought he would be here to see Stuart, stood in front of the young man’s window where he had been waiting for a few minutes now for him to arrive home from Lacrosse practice, trying to figure out how to start the conversation he’d been considering having with Stiles for months now.

 Why Stiles thought Derek was here to see Stuart was beyond him.  While Stuart was sort of the go-to person for technological assistance in Scott’s pack, Stiles was the reference and research guy.  Derek had never needed Stuarts help directly, since he’d only been brought in on the big werewolf reveal after the Sherriff had been kidnapped and Derek had already given up his Alpha powers and left town with Cora. In fact, Derek had only ever been to the Stilinski home to pick up or drop off information on his way to or from meetings with Scott since he’d hid here during his fugitive period (thanks Stiles and Scott), only agreeing to play messenger boy so as to have an excuse to banter (flirt) safely with Stiles.  Did Stiles not know that Derek had only ever been in Stuart’s presence when Stiles was around? Huh.

“I know which one you are, Stiles. Shockingly, I came here to see you, smartass. I wanted to ask you something.” Derek responded with his own dry snark, rolling his eyes in fond exasperation while simultaneously feeling the back of his neck begin to burn with nerves and anticipation. Derek’s typical and emotionally confusing reaction to every conversation he’s had with the kid (not actually a kid anymore) since waking up scared and disoriented in that hospital elevator nearly a year ago to Stiles with his fist raised and a frantic heartbeat, trying to wake Derek up and get him out of the hospital before the authorities arrived.

Stiles rolled his eyes and groaned quietly. “Are there lives in danger if you don’t get my input right now or is it something that can wait? You don’t seem frantic and I have a ton of homework that I’d like to get done before the next Big Bad rolls through and tries to throw off my GPA again.”

“No, no one’s going to die, hopefully, but it’s not research I’m asking you for this time anyway.  I was wondering if you’d like to get something to eat with me?” Derek asked with no little internal trepidation, forging ahead.

He knew just how capable Stiles was of cutting him down with words alone when irritated or scared and he had no idea how he would react to Derek asking him out. Derek knew Stiles found him attractive. The (adorable) dork wasn’t exactly shy about letting people know about his pants-feelings for other people, (as Stile’s embarrassingly liked to call it), but whether Stiles’ actually liked him as a person who he’d actually want to date and spend time with in non-life-threatening situations was another matter altogether.

Sometimes it seemed like Stiles was trying to push him towards Stuarts company and while that particular twin was sassy in his own right and easy-going enough (though far too passive),  Derek was pretty sure he was straight and pining for some girl named Harley he’d overheard Scott’s pack talk about pulling into werewolf business a few times.  (Which, what? Pulling in more people who don’t need to know is just asking for trouble.) More importantly, Stuart was just not the stubborn, ridiculously brave, painfully intelligent, stupidly pretty jackass currently sitting at the computer desk in front of him with a disbelieving and yep, annoyed look on his face. Crap, this was not going well already.

“Seriously, Derek? Dude, I just said I have things to do. Important things that will allow me to go to Berkley, which is a whole three hours away from the Hellmouth that is Beacon Hills, on a full-ride scholarship and you’re telling me that whatever you need isn’t time-sensitive and yet you also want me to go eat with you somewhere while we discuss whatever it is?!”

Stiles was exasperated and gearing up for a longer rant when Derek interrupted. “Okay Stiles, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean right now, I meant maybe sometime this weekend? It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, unless you want that. Look, I haven’t done this in a while, not while in my right mind, anyway, and I just thought you might be interested. You seem like you might be sometimes. I don’t know, for someone whose not shy about expressing themselves, you can be really hard to read.”

“Interested in what? A date? Are you asking me out on a date? I don’t understand what’s happening right now. What? Why? Again, you do realize I’m not Stuart, right? I’m feeling kind of like an Alice right now, actually. You’re very Cheshire Cat-like, you know, with your charming yet terrifying grin and being all enigmatic and shit?”

Derek had never seen Stiles look more confused, which was saying a lot, considering all of the baffling shit they’d seen over the past couple of years. If it were anyone else, Derek wouldn’t be hesitantly flattered by the Cheshire Cat comparison, but it was Stiles and Derek felt pretty sure that charming yet terrifying totally worked for him.

Derek groaned internally. He really was terrible at this. “Yes, Stiles, I meant a date.  With you. Preferably not a tea or garden party. Also, I don’t understand what your thing is with trying to push me at your brother but even if he were into men, I’m not interested in him.”

 Derek continued before he could be interrupted, which Stiles so obviously wanted to do, “I understand why you’re surprised, we’ve never spent time alone together when someone, usually one of us, wasn’t in danger or outside of pack business in general. I tried to ignore it while you were still drastically underage and being around me was nothing but dangerous, while I was still dangerous, but I thought we had chemistry even when our relationship was entirely antagonistic. I thought we were friends now, at least, and we’ve been flirting for months! Things are never going to be completely quiet in Beacon Hills, but we seem like we’re at a place with Scott’s pack and the Argents and you’re dad’s bunch of supernaturally aware officers  that we can all handle what comes. Things are feeling pretty stable finally, so I thought it might be a good time to see if we could have something real between us, since you’re going to be 18 and because I do know you’re getting ready to head off to college soon. That’s why I wanted to ask you now, so we’d have time to get to know each other that way before you left. It’s way too early to be thinking about long-distance relationships, since we’re not even dating yet, but it’d be a shame to find out too late that we’d be good together without having the stability to keep something like that going.”

Derek finally wound down, after what he was sure was the longest speech he’d ever given since his Composition class in high school ten years ago. In a way, he was exhausted and something like exhilarated at the same time, which is how he was sure dating Stiles would feel like all the time. Well worth it.

Stiles looked gob-smacked. Derek had never seen a person who actually fit the physical description of that term before today. He was pretty sure that Stiles was the text book example of the word, actually, with his mouth hanging open stupidly, eyes as wide open as Derek had ever seen them and a look of sheer incredulity on his face. Was Stiles that shocked by the idea of dating Derek?

Starting to feel uncomfortable, Derek shifted for the first time, finally letting his stoic face crack to show his anxiety while considering a quick leap out the window and an impromptu road trip far away from here, from which he wouldn’t return until after Stiles was safely ensconce at Berkley for four years. Four years should be enough time to live this down, right?

He dismissed the urge to run away and asked brusquely, “Well? If you want to me to go, I will and we don’t have to talk about this again, but could you just tell me you’re not interested so I can move on?”

Stiles visibly pulled himself together. Still looking a bit confused but finally in control of his features he rushed to assure Derek with a quick “No! I mean, no, don’t go! I just need a minute to get my thoughts in order here. That may be the most you’ve ever said to me ever in one go, possibly the most you’ve ever said to me altogether, including threats and hapless yet adorable flirting.”

“That’s the most I’ve said to anyone at one time, ever, since before…” Before Kate. From the look on Stiles face, Derek didn’t have to finish that sentence for Stiles to get it. Derek knew he’d be bumping up against past relationship issues, no matter who he decided to date, but one of the great things about this being _Stiles_ is that he knew enough about Derek’s past that neither of them felt the need to rehash or pointedly reference any of it since the night Stiles had screamed his frustration at Derek during the Darach fiasco at the hospital. Stiles had actually pulled Derek aside during a pack/Argent/law enforcement/Hale check-in a few months back and apologized for his outburst, saying that it had been hitting below the belt, while obviously holding in a painfully inappropriate joke about it being _literally_ below the belt considering the subject matter. Derek had understood Stiles anger and frustration and didn’t blame Stiles for saying what Derek had been thinking about himself anyway. He hadn’t even really felt the need for an apology, but had accepted anyway, without any external eye-rolling even and Stiles was easier with him after that. Derek was pretty sure that was the when their relationship officially took a turn for the flirty.

“Hey, okay, I get it. Um, I feel like I should address your points in bullet format, almost. Just to get it out of the way, since I think it might be the least important part of your speech but I still would like it addressed. Even though Stuart is less vocal about his sexuality, he is also bi and he has also expressed an interest in you in the past. He said that the reason he hasn’t approached you about it was because he was pretty sure you were into someone else. Looking back, I think he might have been talking about me, which he and I are going to have words about because he knew how I felt, feel, about you and didn’t specify that he meant me. He should know more than anyone that I would have never even considered anyone preferring me to him possible and he could have given me some hope, that unbelievable asshat. So, now that you know he’s not straight and all that, now’s your chance to back out if you’re going to. If not, I’m going to address everything else you said and we’ll go from there.” Stiles released all of that in what Derek was sure was one long breathe.

“Stiles, no, I meant what I said. I still have no idea what makes you think someone would prefer him to you. Except for your clothes you two look exactly the same, so it can’t be about you thinking he’s more physically attractive than you. While I do think you’re beautiful, the reasons I’m into you have nothing to do with high school popularity or athleticism or whatever it is that stupid high school kids prioritize over intangible but infinitely more important qualities like bravery, wittiness, loyalty, intelligence, determination, and so on.”

Stiles smirked, trying to hide embarrassment and hope behind a sarcastic façade. “So, to sum up, Derek, what you’re saying is that you think I’m pretty but you love me for my mind?”

“Yes, jackass, that’s exactly what I meant.” Derek rolled his eyes but kept his gaze sincere and focused even while returning Stiles sarcasm. It was the right approach.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Ditto, by the way.”

At that Derek smiled. Not a charming yet terrifying grin or sarcastic smirk, a full, authentic, non-magically induced smile for the first time in what could very well been years, he didn’t even know.

 Derek was pretty sure that Stiles stopped breathing for a moment before smiling back just as big and openly. He was breathtaking in his own right. Derek suddenly felt light-headed. Is this what humans felt like when they were high? It was an addicting feeling.

Stiles noticed something in Derek’s expression because his face showed a gently mirthful concern when he said “Hey, why don’t you have a seat, man? I meant what I said about needing to study but I don’t want you to run off yet. The rest of that stuff, we do definitely need to talk about it, but I think I’d like to have that date first before we decide anything about the future. My dad’s not going to be home until late and Stuart’s off doing computer stuff with Danny and Harley, so I was just going to throw in a pizza for dinner and find something to watch on Netflix after. You want to stick around for awhile?”

“Yeah Stiles, I want to.”

“Awesome.”

**Author's Note:**

> First fic ever, unbetaed, constructive criticism welcome!
> 
> ETA: You can find me on tumblr if you really want to. [roadbeneathus](http://roadbeneathus.tumblr.com/)


End file.
